A semiconductor circuit may be described by a schematic diagram that represents components of the circuit using abstract symbols. The schematic diagram may show the components of the circuit as standardized symbols as opposed to realistic images. The schematic diagram of a circuit may have a corresponding layout diagram.
A layout that corresponds to a schematic diagram is meant to perform the same functionality as the schematic diagram. A layout may use different shapes and patterns to represent different metal, oxide, or other material layers that make up the components of the circuit, as also represented by the corresponding schematic diagram.
In order to ensure that a particular layout diagram properly represents a particular corresponding schematic diagram (e.g., will perform the same functionality as the particular schematic diagram), a user may perform a layout versus schematic (“LVS”) verification process. The LVS process may compare the arrangement of represented components of the layout against the arrangement of represented components of the corresponding schematic diagram.